Glenn Edgerton, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

Glenn Edgerton, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago

William DeShazer, Chicago Tribune

In dance, the year about to end has been one of stellar achievement by the backstage manager. Whether he is called artistic director, executive director or just plain boss, the leaders of our dance institutions and companies delivered big time. The Auditorium Theatre, the Harris Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Dance Center of Columbia College and the Chicago Dancing Festival offered memorable programming. The Joffrey Ballet and River North Dance Chicago impressively broke new ground. But Glenn Edgerton's management of the city's leading contemporary troupe, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, edges out the rest. He brought the great Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin to town for a new piece and took the troupe to St. Petersburg, Russia, for its debut in that renowned dance capital. But his biggest coup: persuading legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp to create a premiere, October's gleaming "Scarlatti." "She wanted to talk about reviving older pieces," Edgerton says of talking to Tharp on his trip to New York last spring. "I certainly wanted my dancers to experience her on any level possible. But I also want Hubbard to be a catalyst, to look forward, not back. I wanted a new work. "We met for an hour and a half, and by the end, she was up on the floor, dancing in her studio, demonstrating what she wanted for the new piece." Tharp has said Edgerton's artistic sensitivity helped sway her. His strengths include forging key relationships and building on them. He was artistic director of the Nederlands Dans Theater from 1994 to 2004, working with Naharin and Nacho Duato, now in St. Petersburg. Others before him brought the duo's works to Hubbard, too, but Edgerton got them to come back, in person, bringing Duato here last year, leading to the St. Petersburg invite, and getting Hubbard to Israel to work firsthand with Naharin. "I have long friendships with all these guys," Edgerton puts it. In this economy, nothing comes easy. Hubbard shrank to only 16 dancers for a while, now back to 17 and, Edgerton vows, up to 18 in the next year and a half. "We should be 20," he says. A slowly revolving door still plagues the lineup: Benjamin Wardell left this year. "Ben wants to freelance and pursue video work," Edgerton says. "You hate it when someone prominent leaves, but you have to respect the life paths of others, too. Hubbard requires quite a commitment. We work 52 weeks out of the year." Soft-spoken, sporting careful articulation that, if anything, sounds vaguely Dutch, despite his upbringing in Orange, Texas, Edgerton, a onetime Joffrey Ballet dancer, is one of the most visible artistic director out in theaters observing other companies' work. "I like to know what's going on and support it," he says. "It's an important part of who I am. My favorite thing is to sit in a theater, waiting for the lights to go down, anticipating dance. I love it." -- Sid Smith

In dance, the year about to end has been one of stellar achievement by the backstage manager. Whether he is called artistic director, executive director or just plain boss, the leaders of our dance institutions and companies delivered big time. The Auditorium Theatre, the Harris Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Dance Center of Columbia College and the Chicago Dancing Festival offered memorable programming. The Joffrey Ballet and River North Dance Chicago impressively broke new ground. But Glenn Edgerton's management of the city's leading contemporary troupe, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, edges out the rest. He brought the great Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin to town for a new piece and took the troupe to St. Petersburg, Russia, for its debut in that renowned dance capital. But his biggest coup: persuading legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp to create a premiere, October's gleaming "Scarlatti." "She wanted to talk about reviving older pieces," Edgerton says of talking to Tharp on his trip to New York last spring. "I certainly wanted my dancers to experience her on any level possible. But I also want Hubbard to be a catalyst, to look forward, not back. I wanted a new work. "We met for an hour and a half, and by the end, she was up on the floor, dancing in her studio, demonstrating what she wanted for the new piece." Tharp has said Edgerton's artistic sensitivity helped sway her. His strengths include forging key relationships and building on them. He was artistic director of the Nederlands Dans Theater from 1994 to 2004, working with Naharin and Nacho Duato, now in St. Petersburg. Others before him brought the duo's works to Hubbard, too, but Edgerton got them to come back, in person, bringing Duato here last year, leading to the St. Petersburg invite, and getting Hubbard to Israel to work firsthand with Naharin. "I have long friendships with all these guys," Edgerton puts it. In this economy, nothing comes easy. Hubbard shrank to only 16 dancers for a while, now back to 17 and, Edgerton vows, up to 18 in the next year and a half. "We should be 20," he says. A slowly revolving door still plagues the lineup: Benjamin Wardell left this year. "Ben wants to freelance and pursue video work," Edgerton says. "You hate it when someone prominent leaves, but you have to respect the life paths of others, too. Hubbard requires quite a commitment. We work 52 weeks out of the year." Soft-spoken, sporting careful articulation that, if anything, sounds vaguely Dutch, despite his upbringing in Orange, Texas, Edgerton, a onetime Joffrey Ballet dancer, is one of the most visible artistic director out in theaters observing other companies' work. "I like to know what's going on and support it," he says. "It's an important part of who I am. My favorite thing is to sit in a theater, waiting for the lights to go down, anticipating dance. I love it." -- Sid Smith (William DeShazer, Chicago Tribune)

In dance, the year about to end has been one of stellar achievement by the backstage manager. Whether he is called artistic director, executive director or just plain boss, the leaders of our dance institutions and companies delivered big time. The Auditorium Theatre, the Harris Theater, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Dance Center of Columbia College and the Chicago Dancing Festival offered memorable programming. The Joffrey Ballet and River North Dance Chicago impressively broke new ground. But Glenn Edgerton's management of the city's leading contemporary troupe, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, edges out the rest. He brought the great Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin to town for a new piece and took the troupe to St. Petersburg, Russia, for its debut in that renowned dance capital. But his biggest coup: persuading legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp to create a premiere, October's gleaming "Scarlatti." "She wanted to talk about reviving older pieces," Edgerton says of talking to Tharp on his trip to New York last spring. "I certainly wanted my dancers to experience her on any level possible. But I also want Hubbard to be a catalyst, to look forward, not back. I wanted a new work. "We met for an hour and a half, and by the end, she was up on the floor, dancing in her studio, demonstrating what she wanted for the new piece." Tharp has said Edgerton's artistic sensitivity helped sway her. His strengths include forging key relationships and building on them. He was artistic director of the Nederlands Dans Theater from 1994 to 2004, working with Naharin and Nacho Duato, now in St. Petersburg. Others before him brought the duo's works to Hubbard, too, but Edgerton got them to come back, in person, bringing Duato here last year, leading to the St. Petersburg invite, and getting Hubbard to Israel to work firsthand with Naharin. "I have long friendships with all these guys," Edgerton puts it. In this economy, nothing comes easy. Hubbard shrank to only 16 dancers for a while, now back to 17 and, Edgerton vows, up to 18 in the next year and a half. "We should be 20," he says. A slowly revolving door still plagues the lineup: Benjamin Wardell left this year. "Ben wants to freelance and pursue video work," Edgerton says. "You hate it when someone prominent leaves, but you have to respect the life paths of others, too. Hubbard requires quite a commitment. We work 52 weeks out of the year." Soft-spoken, sporting careful articulation that, if anything, sounds vaguely Dutch, despite his upbringing in Orange, Texas, Edgerton, a onetime Joffrey Ballet dancer, is one of the most visible artistic director out in theaters observing other companies' work. "I like to know what's going on and support it," he says. "It's an important part of who I am. My favorite thing is to sit in a theater, waiting for the lights to go down, anticipating dance. I love it." -- Sid Smith